Red Ribbon event set for Friday

By Deborah Buckhalter
Published: October 30, 2008

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More than 600 ninth graders are expected to converge on Chipola College this Friday to take part in a big Red Ribbon Week event.
Red Ribbon Week began Monday, and its goal is to prevent substance abuse by young people.
Rosie Smith of Jackson Hospital, one of several sponsoring entities, said that 9th graders are specifically being targeted this Friday for a reason.
“That’s the first year of high school, that’s when influences can be very strong and powerful on children as they are making choices about what groups they’re going to belong to, and who they’re going to allow to influence their lives,” Smith said.
State Representative Marti Coley (D7) will open the program.
The presentation is billed as a youth empowerment seminar called “I’m Aware.”
Headline speaker for the event will be Willie D. Spears.
Originally from Panama City, he graduated from Troy University with a masters degree in education and from Northwestern Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in communication. He has worked as a Disney Cruise Line entertainer, and is a former teacher, coach, comedian and radio personality.
Red Ribbon Week was established as a national observation during the administration of Pres. Ronald Reagan.
According to a press release about the upcoming local event, the week was established “to keep alive the work of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was kidnapped, tortured and brutally murdered in 1985 while working undercover in Guadalajara, Mexico for over four years. His work led to the discovery of a multimillion-dollar narcotics manufacturing operation in Chihuahua, Mexico,” the release states.
Students from Jackson, Liberty and Washington counties will participate in the event, which is closed to the general public.
In addition to Jackson Hospital, the following agencies are co-sponsoring the event: Big Bend AHEC, Character Council of Florida, Inc., Community Safety Coalition, Department of Health Jackson County Healthy Communities, Healthy People program, Jackson County Students Working Against Tobacco, Liberty County Students Working Against Tobacco, PAHN, PANDAAP, and the Washington County Health Department.